Dragnet 2600

so what does a hard boiled cop like joe friday have in common with a faceless 8-bit guy like pitfall harry? they share a very recognizable bit of music. i probably wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for the atari 2600 game by game podcast. i personally own a stack of atari cartridges. the last count was 82 i think, and i wanted to hear the show that covered pitfall. when the host (ferg) revealed the dragnet/pitfall connection it was like seeing something for the first time that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. a good riff is a good riff, and it was common for video games from the 80′s to do this type of thing. i felt the same way when i realized the music in spy hunter was actually the peter gunn theme.**ferg, if you’re reading this, i hope you don’t mind the way i edited the clip from your show. thanks again for your dedication to the atari 2600!

mom, this particular blog post is all about one riff. a riff is just a little part of a song that is sometimes repeated & usually sticks with you, like that bit of dragnet music in the mp3 link above. a riff that jim might recognize is the guitar part that is played at the VERY beginning and then repeated at 2:38 on this version of folsom prison blues. i’ll to talk to jim on the phone if he still doesn’t understand.